My wife & I stopped at a Red Ruby's while on vacation. We didn't know what it was, but quickly found out the only fare served was hamburgers!!! It really had just about every concoction you could possibly perceive topping their world class burgers.....ohhhh it was so good. I was able to order a cheese burger with a fried egg on top! That's the first time I have been able to order that since a vacation to England! (And they mock British food....well okay, it's pretty easy to mock their food....anyroads..)

My favourite restaurant meals have been the Black Angus steak with rosti potatoes at Verveine in Toronto, the chevre pizza at Les Trois Brasseurs in Montreal (where I learned just how delicious chevre is), and the rabbit etouffe at K-Paul's in New Orleans. The meal at K-Paul's was great for more than the food, though. We sat at a large table with a variety of people from all over the place and everyone talked about where they were from and what they were doing in New Orleans - they ALL came to eat .

Some co-workers and I recently ate at English is Italian. It's supposed to be all nice and trendy.

It was crap.

The waitstaff treated us like we didn't exist (to be honest, we were the only table there with 'ethnic' people and I wonder if that had anything to do with it, because every other table had waitstaff at hand, all breadbaskets and fresh drinks).

Then came the food, which although I said well-done (fish) was rare. I know that's the rage, but not what I asked for. Meanwhile the chicken of everyone else was dry and overdone.

THEN, they didn't even ask us what we wanted for desert (and yes, they did at other tables, we were ultra-observant by that point) but just told us they'd bring it out, and plopped down one bowl of sorbet and a small plate of cookies for us to share. (placed in the center of the table).

Outback Steakhouse is by far my favorite. It's so spicy and amazing. You can't say you've lived until you eat there.

We just ate there tonight! The only thing I don't like is that they put too much black pepper on the steaks. I hate black pepper. I know they do this, and yet I always forget to ask them to not season mine. The first bite was to die for, but then after that my tongue and lips were burning so much from the pepper that I couldn't taste the rest of it. Our server brought me a dish of au jus to pour over it, and that washed away quite a bit of the pepper so it wasn't so bad.

I have several favorite places. For steaks it's Texas Roadhouse. Others are HuHot Mongolian Grill and Famous Dave's Barbecue. Our favorite Mexican restaurant ever is a place in Cody, Wyoming called La Comida. We plan to stop there during our vacation. The food is wonderful, but the best part is their Margarita Mud Pie.

We just ate there tonight! The only thing I don't like is that they put too much black pepper on the steaks. I hate black pepper. I know they do this, and yet I always forget to ask them to not season mine. The first bite was to die for, but then after that my tongue and lips were burning so much from the pepper that I couldn't taste the rest of it. Our server brought me a dish of au jus to pour over it, and that washed away quite a bit of the pepper so it wasn't so bad.

ITA - they put WAY too much pepper on their meat. It's like they're trying to hide something with all that seasoning.

I'm not really a fan of big chain restaurants, but I do like Mimi's every once in a while.

One of my favorite places is The Crab Pot in Long Beach. The best seafood I've ever had. They cover the tables with butcher paper, give you a bib and pour the food out onto the table. You just dig in and eat with your hands. We like to get crab legs, shrimp, mussels, salmon, halibut, andouille sausage, red potatoes and corn (little mini cobs) all tossed with good Hungarian paprika. We always have enough leftover to make a great seafood and corn chowder the next day.

There's a little Greek place near my house that I LOVE. I'd eat there every day if I could. For Mexican food, nothing beats Mario's in Huntington Beach (my hometown). It's always my first stop when I go home to visit.

Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' - Isaac Asimov

I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"